Your driving down the road, when all of the sudden you look at your car’s temperature. It’s approaching the red zone. You pull over, but by then it’s too late – your car is overheating. Steam is coming out of the hood and you hear that dreaded sizzling.

An overheating car is a terrible experience, one that many of us have experienced. Of course, our first thought is naturally, “This is going to cost me a fortune.” Luckily, this isn’t always the case. However, before anything is done, you must locate the issue of what is causing your overheating problem. Today we will be discussing possible issues that cause your car to overheat.

Low Coolant

While your car may let you know that maintenance is needed with a warning light, sometimes you may not get any warning at all when your coolant is low. This is why many people don’t fill up their coolant until it’s too late. However, when your car overheats this should be the first thing that you check.

Look at your level of coolant and determine whether you need to add more. While water may be a short-term fix do not mistakenly think that this is an appropriate replacement for true ample coolant. Ample coolant is incredibly important for your engine – it flows through and cools everything within your engine down.

Broken Cooling Fan

Another issue that can be causing your vehicle to overheat is a broken cooling fan. Luckily, this issue is actually incredibly easy to spot. If you see the temperature gauge slowly creeping up, it’s time to pull over and open up the hood. The fan in most vehicles is located on or near the radiator. Look at it – is it spinning? If so how is it spinning? If the fan is slow or not moving at all then the cooling fan is likely the issue.

Broken Fan Belt

Another fan issue, broken fan belts can cause your car to quickly overheat. This is especially an issue in older models of vehicles. However, this luckily a very cheap fix. It’s also easy to spot. In most cases, you will be able to see if the fan belt is broken by just opening up the hood.

Clogged Radiator

This is definitely an issue that tends to go unnoticed. The fact is, the more you drive your car the more dirt and gunk your radiator collects. This can keep your radiator from functioning properly, and in turn cause your car to overheat. To keep this from happening, it’s a good idea to flush your radiator every year as it will help ensure that the radiator never gets clogged to the point of causing your car to overheat.

Overheating can be a nightmare, but the situation can be made a lot easier if you know what is causing it. By knowing the root of the problem, you can start the process of making fixes. Remember – if you need parts GM Outlet Parts can save you up to 40%!